What Are You Looking At?

So, yeah, I know that I haven't posted in over a month and a half. So much for NaBloPoMa, huh? Other than a possible allergic reaction to posting every day for about four days in a row, haha, I can't say that there was any real reason for my blog neglect. But whatever, I'm here now, right? lol

I could give you a few bullet points about what I've been up to in the last month and a half, but I think that would be less than entertaining, so instead I think I'll do the next laziest thing and steal a new years resolution survey from VBGirl. Here goes:

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before? bought a house, sold another one

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Honestly, I can't remember what my resolutions were from last year, which may be why I have a HUGE list for this year....

• clean out the litter box every other day
• walk/run on the treadmill three times a week
• practice fiddle four times a week
• be more patient with the dogs (yell at them less)
• get us on a budget, and stick to it
• continue with the diet
• save more money
• give more money away
• spend more time with existing friends and maybe even make some additional ones
• put away my laundry the same day that they come out of the dryer
• have two days out of the week when we don't turn the TV on
• set a daily schedule for myself (this will help me stick to the other resolutions like practicing fiddle and treadmilling) and stick to it.
• be more focused at work and stop "info snacking" while on the job (I'm at work right now.. oops haha!)
  

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes- new niece YAY

4. Did anyone close to you die? Yes

5. What countries did you visit? None other than this one

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007? Focus and motivation

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? June 29th, the day we closed on our house

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? starting and sticking to a diet (I've lost almost 10 pounds yay)

9. What was your biggest failure? money managment

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? no, yay

11. What was the best thing you bought? the house, the house, I love our house!!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Nick, who totally rocks and does nice things for me very single day. :)

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? George W, the majority of the US Congress, the Illinois legislature (who STILL can't seem to give us transit funding), and our lovely Mayor.

14. Where did most of your money go? the house, selling the other house, buying stuff for the new house, did I mention the house? Oh yeah and some travel...

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? I got really excited about the holidays this year, maybe because we had several good snowfalls in early December. I was singing carols and thinking about baking cookies for weeks. .. oh yeah and I got really excited about the house

16. What song will always remind you of 2007? ummmmm... several different songs for different reasons:

• Falling Slowly- the theme song from the movie Once which I saw twice and totally fell in love with. We also saw Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova in concert, TWICE! yay
• a few songs by The Postal Service and Death Cab For Cutee, since I seem to be obsessed with them since September and listen to them a LOT.
  
• Britney's first single "Gimme More", obviously because it will remind me of all the entertainment news drama that's happened with her this year.
  

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer? happier, slightly thinner, and poorer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? practicing fiddle

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? watching reality TV

20. How did you spend Christmas? we went to Indiana to hang out with my Dad, Step Mom, Sis, and college friends.

21. Did you fall in love in 2007? still very much in love with Nick, yay!

22. What was your favorite TV program? ummm... well we did watch Tell Me You Love Me (on HBO) regularly, but I also had my crappy reality TV staples including Bridzillas (and the other dozen or so WE network wedding shows), True Life on MTV, You Are What You Eat and How Clean Is Your House on BBC America, Gardening By the Yard, any house selling or buying show... that's probably about it.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? No

24. What was the best book you read? Ummm... well I really enjoyed David Rakoff's Don't Get Too Comfortable; its a really funny quick read. I also enjoyed two Michael Pollan books, The Omnivore's Dilemma and The Botany of Desire, both of which I read twice.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Postal Service and Death Cab

26. What did you want and get? a house with a yard for the dogs, nearby shops and restaurants, and near transit.

27. What did you want and not get? a million dollars?

28. What was your favorite film of this year? Once, and then Juno (a not-so-close but still really good second; I just liked Once a LOT)

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 27 this year and I have no idea what I did. lol!

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? I'm actually really happy and feel really lucky to have what I have and be where I am in life right now

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007? Um, well, most of the clothes buying I did was for work and that consisted of what was on sale at Marshalls or Old Navy. I still am wearing the same two pairs of blue jeans that my mom (yep, that's right!) bought me two years ago. lol!

32. What kept you sane? Nick, friends, information, time

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? like, as in , have a crush on? Well, I was pretty obsessed with Glen Hansard (from the Once movie)

34. What political issue stirred you the most? Dude, HEALTHCARE! And that reminds me that I need to add Sicko to the best movies answer. It is completely insane that people die because they are poor (which is basically what things boil down to in our current insurance-ruled healthcare system.)

35. Who did you miss? most everyone, since almost no one lives close enough to see them very often

36. Who was the best new person you met? ummm.. I guess I need to meet some new people.. lol!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007. I realized this year (and its probably a function of my age) that my life is happening now, and that I need to think about what I want to accomplish in my life and then I need to start doing that. When I was young, I spent so much time waiting on my life to start, but now I need to realize that the starting gun has sounded and that this is ineed a timed race.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. Dude, that's hard. I hate to end this survey with a "thud" but, I really can't think of a good answer to this question. :)

Thanks for reading. :)